In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate
by Binocular
Summary: There were a lot of things Balthier thought he hated. Eventual Balthier/Vaan.
1. Shields

In a Sky Pirate's Eye

In a sky pirate's eye, at least an experienced one like Balthier's, a shield is completely useless.

One, you should never be that close to something that could attack you.

Two, your hands are better suited for something more useful like ammo.

Three, a leading man would never be caught with a scarp of metal like most shields one sees these days.

So, Balthier was quite shocked (as one might suppose) the day he found himself thanking the gods for the shield.

It had started off as a good hunt, something easy, something to take their minds off of everything. As usual Balthier and Fran were together, and this time the tag-along-sky-pirate-in-training accompanied them.

Balthier and Fran stayed further away from the fiends then most of the group. Ranged weapons were useful this way. They could do plenty of damage, without a fiend getting close enough to ruin the leading man's perfect bone structure.

Now normally the fiends would be easy enough to take care of, these were only the lesser ones before they got to what they were being paid to kill off. But today it seemed harder then usual, perhaps because the royalty of the group decided she need her knight and they got the less experienced street urchin. Or perhaps it was the fact that Fran was doing more healing then attacking.

Vaan didn't have the skills of their own soldier, instead he hacked away at the fiends, hoping to gods is sword hurt them, more then he was being hurt. Normally Balthier would be disgusted with Vaan's like of talent with the sword, but this was turning out to be a far from normal day.

Balthier couldn't help but watch the boy move. Though his sword moved at an awkward angle, and it was clear that the sword was far too heavy from him, the boy seemed almost graceful.

There was agility in his steps that could only be born of years of pick pocketing and avoiding the guards. Balthier couldn't quite understand how a boy like that could dance circles around the fiends, but continued to be pummeled by the said attackers.

Balthier continued staring until he caught Fran's eye.

In that annoyingly vierra way of hers, she knew more about him then he knew about himself. Sure he was staring at the street rat, but what did that truly mean. From the look in Fran's eyes he was pretty sure she thought she knew. But she was wrong. A leading man was attracted to no less then a leading lady (or every now and then a sidekick male).

While his thoughts were rather distracting his eyes managed to continue to fight. Or at least try. Without the rest of his body involved all they could do was see the silver flash of those damned snakes that burrowed underground and appeared when least expected.

Balthier knew in only a way sky pirates know, that he would be hit. Luckily those vipers could barely touch him and Fran would heal him near instantly. He just had to wait the blow out, and move when the opportunity presented itself. Of course Vaan didn't quite understand this system.

When a tan body flashed before his own, protecting him from the viper, he almost cursed the gods. Luckily he stopped as he heard the skull of the viper strike the metal. Metal that could only be Vaan's shield. Of course the impact from the viper was enough to send Vaan back a few steps into the leading man, leaving Balthier in quite an awkward situation.

Faintly Balthier could hear Fran's light chuckle, and a wiz as her arrows flew by them. The viper being done with Balthier could perhaps figure out why he was so flustered by the younger boy whose body seemed to match his perfectly. But that's something he definitely did not need to think about at this moment.

Caught between staying where he was to suck the warmth right out of Vaan, or moving away he was…not scared… but shocked when Vaan made the decision for him, one that could be good or bad depending on Balthier.

Good: He thought the boy had a beautiful face, so it was nice to be face to face with it. Vaan's bone structure was nearly as good as Balthier's.

Bad: Maybe an inch in-between their lips, and that was a valley Balthier wasn't sure he wanted to cross. Oh to be sure, he wanted to cross it, but not with someone he couldn't just disappear from in the morning.

Vaan busted out a huge grin, his eyes lighting up dramatically. "I saved you!" He nearly squealed. "I saved the great sky pirate himself!"

"My boy you did nothing of the sort," Balthier willed his voice to be silky and seductive. Not that he was trying to seduce the boy… not at all. "I was merely waiting for the opportune moment to strike, unfortunately you crashed over here and got in the way."

The smile faltered, barely enough to notice. The eyes almost shimmered down.

"You mean you planned that?" Always the naïve one.

"Of course I planned that. I am the 'great sky pirate' as you said." Always the one to take advantage of someone's naivety.

"Oh."

"Oh is right, but might I say you've gotten a tad better with that shield." Balthier had no idea why he threw in a compliment, even one as weak as that.

The grin was back, as were the lights in Vaan's eyes. Vaan flung himself away from Balthier almost dancing with joy. He began acting out his story.

"Basch has been teaching me so much! He's trying to show me the best ways to block with the shield, and when to use my swords. And--"

"And here I thought you were my apprentice." Balthier wanted to die after saying that. He didn't want to say that. The boy was not his apprentice…

Vaan's eyes got more sparkly then ever before. For a moment Balthier was sure he would be a lovely girl, but perhaps he liked the boy version better…

"Of course I'm your apprentice but Basch is teaching me to use the sword—"

With a sigh Balthier brushed the sand off his arms, heading toward Fran. Vaan was left running after Balthier trying to catch up.

Ah. How Balthier detested swords.

-End of Chapter One-

Next Time: Swords.

Authors Note:

Okay this is a new project for me. One I hope to stick with for quite a while. I hope I stayed true-ish to the real personality of the characters but hey… I'll try and do better next time.

If you decide to review (pretty please) then it would be amazing if someone would like to beta read this story for me. I know there was pretty much no interaction this chapter but the next one… definitely.

Binocular


	2. Swords

In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate

In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate

In the eye's of a sky pirate, at least an experienced one like Balthier, swords are completely useless.

One, you have to get far to close to whatever you're trying to kill.

Two, swords are usually nasty looking things with no class what so ever (unlike the magnificent gun Balthier preferred).

Three, only people who are servants tend to use them. Royalty to serve their countries, soldiers to protect the royalty, and the slaves to protect the soldiers. Ashe, Larsa, Basch, every single soldier they had come against in their travels. They all used a sword.

So, Balthier was quite shocked (as one might suppose) the day he found himself jealous of not only a servant like Basch, but to a sword.

Yes a sword.

Unfortunately Vaan wasn't lying when he said Basch was teaching him to use the sword. Sure, the boy was getting a lot better with the damned thing, but Balthier hated watching him dance around Basch in a way that almost looked like a mating ritual. He hated the way they started laughing together, and the way they would exchange smiles. Balthier hated the way that sword Vaan used, was taken care of so nicely, and how Vaan always managed to use it, yet Vaan could go an entire day without saying a word to Balthier.

It had been quite a while since Balthier truly hated something so much he couldn't help but to rant. And this wasn't the worst part.

It's understandable to want to be physically close to something as attractive as Vaan, but it was an entirely different thing to be jealous of his swords instructor (or the boy's sword for that matter) just because Vaan happened to spend more time with Basch.

If Balthier wasn't the leading man (who always gets what he wants) then he'd have thought the two were in love.

Ha.

Good thing Balthier is the leading man, who gets exactly what he wants.

All he has to do is find a way to get. And the Strahl was a nearly perfect way to distract the boy from his sword tutor. Not that that's the only reason Vaan would sometimes abandon Basch for Balthier. Of course not.

Who would blow off the leading man for a…soldier?

Not Vaan. Or at least Vaan wasn't one of the few…for a time. More and more often Vaan would refuse Balthier's offers of showing him around the Strahl, or of teaching him some new skills that all classy sky pirates would have.

It had gotten to the point where Balthier nearly had to beg the boy to come by the Strahl. And even then all Vaan could, or would, talk about was Basch. What made Basch so damned attractive?

Balthier couldn't imagine how someone would choose a day with a dirty, soldier who used a sword over the clean, smooth-talking sky pirate.

binocularlovesvaanandbalthier(scene change)

Fran caught on to Balthier's tricky ways to get Vaan to spend time with him, and noticed how these tricks failed more and more every time they were tried. A waste of time in Fran's eyes. But she knew Balthier as well as she once knew the Wood.

If he didn't get some attention soon he was going to explode.

And that's something Fran couldn't bare to see again…

Fran tried to discuss the absurdity of Balthier being love sick over a mere boy, but he wouldn't hear of it. He would just storm off, mumbling something about not being love sick and swords.

She attempted to leave Balthier to sort out his own mess, but that was a failure. Ashe and Penelo were becoming sadly aware of Balthier's state. They had no idea who he was love sick over, but they knew something was up.

It was at that point Fran decided to interfere.

Fran wasn't one to beat around the bush. She knew exactly what would distract Vaan and exactly what only two people were needed to do. So that's what she went with. Quickly she found a Hunt, though a rather weak one, and went for Balthier and Vaan.

Vaan would love the hunt.

Balthier would love the attention.

And the Mark was weak enough not to need more then two to go for it. The others may whine a bit, but Fran was sure she could scare them off if need be.

Silently she handed the bill to Balthier, who knew her intentions instantly. He wanted to retort that he didn't need her help, and that she was being as meddlesome as most of the hume women he knew.

Too bad he desperately needed her help.

Too bad she wasn't being all that meddlesome compared to what Penelo or Ashe would've done.

hahapeneloandashearenotreallyinthisyet(scene change)

Balthier sighed as he brought the bill to where Basch and Vaan were training. As usual they didn't notice his appearance and as usual he was becoming more and more jealous by the minute.

But he knew better then to try and break the two men up. The one time he had tried it, it had not been a pretty sight.

From the moment Fran had handed Balthier the bill for the hunt he had been trying to figure out how to ask… no force Vaan to go with him, without accidentally bringing along Basch.

Not that Basch wasn't worth something during most hunts, for usually he was the one making the strongest attacks, but Balthier wanted some alone time with his street urchin. Yes, his. Balthier had found him, finders keepers and all that rubbish.

Once the two men… or more the soldier and the boy broke apart. Balthier made his presence known.

"I can see you haven't improved any." The snide comment wasn't meant to be as snide as it sounded… nor was it meant to be said.

But Balthier was never one to be nice when it came to the street rat.

Vaan shot Balthier a heated look. Oh yes, he was angry. But at least Balthier was getting more emotion from Vaan then the soldier was at this moment.

"He's improved greatly." Basch said, ruining Balthier's moment.

In that one comment the anger toward Balthier turned into adoration for Basch. Balthier hide his resentment at this with ease. He was used to wearing masks, this was no different.

"Greatly you say. Then perhaps he is good enough to come with me on a hunt." Balthier said, and with a flourish presented Vaan the bill.

Basch eyed him, almost with a suspicious glint in his eyes. Balthier wasn't going to let it bother him though. Vaan excitedly attacked the bill. Reading it from all angles possible or at least Balthier assumed he was reading it. Could the boy even read at all?

Perhaps Balthier should spend sometime getting to know the boy.

"Who else is going with you?" Basch asked, his arms crossed, his voice firm.

"Ah. Just Vaan and I." Balthier said with a smirk.

Basch glared at Balthier. Oh yes, he was rather angry now. Vaan on the other hand looked excited. Even more excited when he was reading (?) the bill. Even more excited then when he was working on his swordsmanship with Basch.

"Really? They're trusting me and you… just us to go?" Balthier looked at Vaan, annoyed with his silly questions.

"Of course they trust us. I'll be there after all." Balthier told him. Balthier hopped he sounded as arrogant as he wanted to be.

"This is not a good idea. I shall come too, just to be safe." Basch told them. Vaan's eyes fell to the ground. No longer as happy as he once was.

Balthier scoffed. He had expected this. "Oh. So Vaan hasn't improved "greatly" like you have told me?"

Oh yes, that's the money right there.

Vaan looked at Balthier, surprised that Balthier cared enough to defend him. Basch looked even more surprised.

Vaan looked at Basch defensively. The boy absolutely hated lies. And this would be considered a lie in his book. A big ugly one.

Basch let go of a sigh before nodding that yes indeed Vaan had improved. Probably enough to do this Hunt alone. But Basch didn't want to say that aloud. Just in case he was wrong.

At the same time though, he wanted to say it. Basch didn't quite know what it was, but he hated the way Balthier looked at Vaan. Absolutely hated it. Before he had time to voice anything though, the sky pirate and his apprentice were gone.

And when a sky pirate doesn't want anyone to follow them, then there are no tracks to be found.

poorbaschditchedasusual(scene change)

The two were in the desert by the time anyone who cared realized they were gone. An odd couple they must have been. Vaan looking as a street rat looks, Balthier getting looks from all the woman (and some men). Whether they be highborn or lowborn. None could look away.

Except for that damn street urchin who was darting ahead of Balthier as usual.

Some men enjoyed the chase; Balthier far preferred the feast afterward.

Balthier kept his pace slow and even. He wanted this hunt to last as long as possible. He…enjoyed Vaan's company, and this was probably the only time in the near future he would do so.

Vaan was running here and there. Forward and back. Forward and back. Forward and back. Forward and…

"Either be there or here, quit jumping in between." Balthier said annoyed. He hated it when people couldn't make decisions on what they want.

Vaan glared at him for a moment. He looked up, far away from where Balthier stood. Balthier almost regretted what he said, but no, a sky pirate has no need for regrets. Eventually Vaan turned toward Balthier and made a slow jog toward him. Eventually that jog slowed until it became a walk, with a pace matching Balthier's own.

Balthier couldn't help but be happy the boy chose him over the desert dunes. Even if that wasn't something most people would be proud of.

The two walked in companionable silence for a bit, until Balthier decided it was time to get to know his little street urchin.

"Can you read?" A bit more blunt then Balthier's usual words, but the boy must have been used to that by now.

And sure enough he was. No surprise appeared in his eyes when he began to answer. But perhaps some shame lingered in them instead?

"Only bits and pieces…" It was nearly a mumble.

Balthier was almost upset. It would never do to be with someone who couldn't read. They wouldn't be able to carry on conversations, or read instructions on entering tombs, or anything of the like. But Balthier wasn't upset. Because sometimes opportunity appeared in random forms and Balthier was someone who found each and every one of these forms.

"I'll teach you to read then." Balthier stated it as a fact. There was no room for arguing once Balthier made up his mind.

Vaan gave him a look. A happy look, mixed with a spark of something Balthier couldn't name. Or perhaps Balthier wasn't as adept to reading faces as he thought.

"And in return I can teach you how to use a sword!" Vaan shouted happily.

Almost too loud.

And almost too happy.

Balthier shot him a look of disgust. Swords. Balthier hated them more then ever. He didn't care he'd get to spend even more time with Vaan, there was no way he was learning how to use a disgusting sword.

That was not in his "seduce-the-urchin-boy" plans.

Not that that was his plan or anything…

"I would rather not." Balthier told him. Far more polite then the other retorts attacking his mind.

Vaan looked at him suspiciously.

"Why wouldn't someone want to know how to use a sword? It's really useful, and it's ten times stronger then that baby weapon you carry…" Vaan was rambling.

Balthier looked almost offended when Vaan called his nice little pistol a baby weapon. He may have even been furious with the boy, but Vaan was too busy within his rant to notice.

Just as they were both too busy to notice the mark creeping closer to them.

As the mark leapt at Vaan, Vaan struggled to get his sword into his hand. Something that was going on quite slowly if you asked Balthier. Quickly Balthier grabbed his pistol and shot the fiend.

With only one hit it was done. Their hunt complete.

Balthier knew it was to be weak, but he hadn't expected it to be that weak. The reward most be close to nearly nothing.

What a shame.

Balthier would have focused more on that, if he didn't have something to do first.

"I believe you owe by "baby weapon" an apology." Balthier told Vaan quite smugly. "For I believe it just saved your life."

Vaan was sputtering something about refusing to say sorry to a weapon. Balthier couldn't help but think the boy looked cute.

"Sometimes it's better to be able to attack when you're further away." Balthier continued ignoring Vaan with ease.

"But usually it's better to be close." Vaan said quickly interrupting Balthier with ease.

"Name one time when it's better to be clo—" Balthier couldn't finish his sentence.

It was rather hard to speak when his lips were pressed to something that tasted deliciously like Vaan.

As good as it was… the walk back was going to be… awkward. He could tell by the way the boy kissed. He'd kissed enough people to know.

Ah. How Balthier hated awkward silences.

-End of Chapter 2-

Next Time: Awkward Silences.

Authors Note:

Wow...this took forever to come out. And I'm really sorry about that. I have no really good excuses. Forgive me anyway? I hope to get the third chapter up sometime next week... but no promise!

Sorry about those weird scene changes... took my nifty changes out...

I hope i stayed true-ish to the characters… I'm kinda hoping that for the whole story. xD Please let me know if something seems out of place.

I still need a Beta-Reader so anyone interested should just let me know in a review. D

Oh! And thank you so much to everyone who did review, favorite this story, and/or get a story alert. You guys really brightened my day!

Binocular


	3. Awkward Silences

In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate

In the eye's of a sky pirate, at least an experienced on like Balthier, awkward silences are completely useless.

One, a pirate never does anything with a blushing virgin who never knows what to say if one can avoid it.

Two, everyone is always in love with you before even speaking to you. So anything you say they'll accept it, and just bat their pretty little eye lashes.

Three, a leading man always knows what to say.

So, Balthier was quite shocked (to say the least) when he was experiencing one of these so called "awkward silences". Not only was he experiencing it, but with a blushing virgin boy. Both things Balthier had done everything in his power to avoid for his entire life.

Of course Balthier enjoyed the kiss, more then he probably should have considering it was the little urchin boys first kiss (oh he could tell). But that couldn't be helped. Vaan was one of the more… attractive things he had seen in quite a while. Actually it didn't seem like Balthier had considered anyone attractive since he meet Vaan.

But that really didn't mean anything.

Nearly instantly after the kiss Vaan had pulled back with a shaky laugh and ran off saying something about "building the best battle chain ever". Balthier wasn't an idiot; he knew the boy just was trying to run away. At first Balthier hadn't even known why.

He responded to the kiss, it should be fine. They both just accepted their attraction to each other, they could move on now. At least they should have been able. Damn Vaan and his naivety. He knew nothing in the games of love.

Except… this wasn't love. Not even close.

Attraction yes. Love no.

Therefore it was probably lust. All Balthier needed was a little roll in the sheets. Couldn't Vaan handle that like an adult? Ah, but the boy was barely an adult if you consider…

Balthier didn't really care though. Vaan had seen more then most adults in Archades had. He may not have been as physically experienced as some of the other adults… but Balthier could teach him.

Not that Balthier actually wanted to spend time with the urchin! Oh no no no. Balthier was a one night stand kind of pirate. Not a "let's spend the rest of our lives together" kind of pirate. And if Balthier had anything to say about it he would never become that kind of pirate. Ever.

But he may be willing to become more of a once a week stand for Vaan… or more?

With a sigh Balthier attempting to track Vaan and at the same time trying to get these thoughts out of his mind, being with someone once (and never seeing them again) was simple. What was happening with Balthier and Vaan didn't appear to be the simple type of problem.

Not that this was necessarily a problem.

Not like he wanted to hold Vaan in his arms forever.

Not that he was becoming a romantic like almost every female he knew.

Not that he was letting this get to him.

Oh but he was.

Balthier's thoughts almost distracted him from a blonde head that was jumping in and out of his sight. Almost. It seemed as though Balthier now had Vaan-Sight, making it nearly impossible to ignore the beautiful blonde.

Balthier didn't want to think of Vaan as beautiful. But he couldn't seem to help it. And that should've annoyed Balthier.

But it didn't.

The only thing that annoyed the leading man was the fact that a certain urchin wasn't any where close to Balthier. In a matter of fact it seemed like the street rat was busy running as hard as possible. Trying to get away from the man he just kissed.

Balthier would've thought Vaan was running because the Leading Man didn't have technique when he kissed… but that was obviously not it. Balthier knew he was a damned good kisser. As did almost every attractive female who had ever been near Balthier.

Maybe Vaan was embarrassed of the way he kissed Balthier?

Now that was weird to think about… The street rat making the first move on a Leading Man? That would annoy Balthier normally, but he found it was rather cute.

Cute?

Never in Balthier's life had he described anything as cute. Finally Balthier knew what was wrong with him. He was suffering from heat stroke. That had to be it. What was it Fran had always told him about heat stroke?

Probably nothing. They didn't often talk about something that would happen to "weak humes".

What in the world did he know about heat stroke? You were really hot when it happened. Really really hot. But Balthier was always hot… at least that what people told him.

Balthier smiled at his own little joke. But Balthier never considered himself hot. Not even once.

He always thought he was more of a sexy Leading Man then anything else.

Oh yes. He was almost surely having a heat stroke. Where was that desert boy when you needed him?

Probably hiding away just because he was ashamed of his first kiss… which wasn't half bad in Balthier's opinion.

Heat stroke.

No other way to explain it.

Balthier finally decided it was time to put a stop to this "chase" the sky pirate and his "assistant" had going on. And maybe even stop the thoughts going through the leading man's head. Balthier wasn't sure he liked where all of this was leading.

So Balthier did the thing any good sky pirate would do.

He pretended to pass out.

If Vaan really was trying to make the "greatest battle chain ever" then he wouldn't even notice Balthier passed out. In which case Balthier would promptly leave the boy in the forest and go find some bar maid he wouldn't mind a good time with a devilish sky pirate.

But if Vaan ran up to him it meant the street rat really did care. Not that Balthier desperately wanted Vaan to care or anything. Balthier just wanted to…draw the boy into conversation. Make him feel at ease and then…

Bang!

Plan "seduce-the-urchin-boy" would be back on.

Not that Balthier had a plan like that. He liked to consider it more of a… outline. Not a plan…an outline.

The sand was hell of a lot hotter then Balthier thought it would be. It was a good thing he wore so many clothes. Clothes that were fashionable, yet easy to take off... they were also good with protecting Balthier against the elements.

Well semi-good.

Way better then that vest Vaan wore. Not that it wasn't nice to be able to see the lithe chest of Vaan everyday without having to do anything special… but it was a little annoying anyone could do it. He had seen Penelo staring at his…the street urchin plenty of times. He wouldn't even get started on Bache's eyes. Not that he had seen them often.

But who knew. The captain seemed like he'd be good at hiding what he was doing. Not as good as Balthier of course.

Luckily Balthier had only wait thirty seconds before Vaan practically jumped on top of him (not that he minded) with a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay Balthier? Do you need some water? Do you need an ice pack? Are you even conscious?" Vaan was asking these questions rapidly.

It was a good thing the boy was too panicked to see the way Balthier was looking at him. If you could devour someone with your eyes Vaan would've been long gone. It was hard enough to restrain himself when he was just watching Vaan, but now he had the boy on top of him. But he had to do his best to stay calm, suave…

Instead Balthier licked Vaan's lips.

Licked them.

Balthier refused to think about it afterward. If Vaan hadn't been in such a panic then it wouldn't have been so easy... If Vaan didn't have such kissable lips… If Vaan didn't look like he would be delicious… If Vaan didn't blush and stutter afterward Balthier may not have been tempted to do it again.

But before he could Vaan had moved away from him, practically jumped off him. At least Vaan hadn't completely run off again. That would have made Balthier rather angry. Maybe he would've even tried to find company with the princess or Penelo after that.

Probably not though. They were two of the most irritating female's Balthier had ever bothered to lay eyes on.

Vaan's face would've made a master painter angry. A street urchin could find the perfect hue of red, yet a painter couldn't paint a red with that kind of power.

This was not the time to be comparing Vaan to paint. Balthier wasn't sure there was a time that was good for that… ever.

Balthier could've sat there dazed for a minute… but he choose not to. A leading man must never appear dazed. Instead he was going to get up and handle everything like a perfect gentleman, perhaps which would help sweep Vaan off his feet.

Then again the boy looked rather light; Balthier probably could've lifted him with ease. Balthier made a mental note to make sure this kid was actually eating. It wouldn't do any good for the boy to waste away. It would probably do far worse then good actually. Balthier would have no one to lavish his attentions on.

Lavish his attentions?

Balthier was nearly certain he had never "lavished his attentions" on anyone before. Never even thought of it before, but now some kind of street rat was making him feel like he wanted to be a prince charming.

Balthier was almost positive he did not want to be a prince charming.

Almost positive.

Attempting to ignore where this train of thoughts was going he stood up. Brushing the dirt off of himself he looked towards Vaan with a single raised eyebrow. Being the perfect gentlemen (not prince) Balthier held his hand out to the street urchin. The boy didn't reach for him. In a matter of fact Vaan's eyes just got bigger, and his face redder (if that's possible), leaving Balthier no choice but to force a reaction out of him.

"And here I thought desert rats didn't get burned by the sun they so love." Balthier used his mocking voice to urge Vaan to take his hand. Probably not the best choice, but it worked.

"I am not a rat! And I am not sun burned!" Vaan practically screamed, his face going red not from embarrassment but from anger.

Balthier was rather sick of this by now. He had been kind enough to keep his hand out for the street urchin for a rather long period of time. His hand was getting tired and he just wanted to abandon the boy at this point.

Not that he would.

Luckily Balthier didn't have to make a decision because Vaan grabbed his hand. Not to help pull himself up but instead to drag Balthier down. Normally Balthier would've been angry and quite offended. But Vaan's terrible idea happened to drag a certain leading man down on top of it.

Vaan's anger disappeared instantly, just to be replaced by embarrassment once again. Obviously Vaan didn't know how to think through his plans. And good that Balthier was very good at coming up with plans on short notice.

This was actually a rather hard feat for once. Balthier was on top of someone he was very attracted to, to say the least. Not only this but Vaan insisted on squirming his lithe body, probably trying to get Balthier off. But if anything it made Balthier want to stay where he was… and do something a little more fun.

But Balthier needed to take this slow. He wasn't sure why he needed to be slow, he just did. So instead Balthier did the only logical thing.

He kissed him.

Now from one point this worked perfectly. Vaan stopped struggling and returned the kiss without even bothering to think.

But from another point Vaan stopped moving, and Balthier wanted more then just a kiss. He wanted to devour Vaan.

This wasn't exactly new considering everything Balthier had been thinking about out in the desert (heat stroke definitely heat stroke). But it was very new considering Balthier didn't have Vaan with him before.

Fantasies were easy.

Reality was hard.

Especially since Balthier didn't just want to have Vaan once and get rid of him. He had to make sure this lasted a long time. Ah. The heat stroke was back.

Balthier decided to listen to his heat stroke for now. But later… Vaan was almost definitely not safe. Balthier pulled his lips away from Vaan's. He almost lost control and tried to kiss the boy senseless (and then some) when Vaan let out an annoyed moan.

"We should probably get back into Rabanastre." He said, Vaan still pinned beneath him.

Balthier wasn't going anywhere unless Vaan made him. He rather liked this position.

"Vaan! Where are you Vaan?" A girlish shriek was heard screaming from not far away.

Vaan's eyes became panicked once more and Balthier got off of him without even saying anything. Oh yes he was pissed, but he was trying to take it slow. Make Vaan want him more the anything. More than this stupid little bitch who was trying to take his Vaan away.

Vaan gave Balthier a sad look and ran toward the voice. Balthier didn't want that look to be sad… maybe even pitying. He wanted that look to be hot, and lust full. At least Vaan's lips looked as though they had been thoroughly kissed. Which they had, Balthier made sure of that.

Walking to the top of the dune Balthier's magic Vaan-Sight made him find Vaan and the little tramp who called him away with ease.

Balthier allowed himself a simple glare.

Ah. How Balthier hated girls like Penelo.

-End of Chapter 3-

Next Time: Girls like Penelo.

Authors Note:

I'm so sorry. This chapter took forever to come out and I hope you'll still read this even if I'm slow. Now that school's out all I have is softball… so updating will become much easier hopefully. I'm aiming for once a week but don't hold me to it.

Again I'm trying to stay true to the characters. So let me know if anything seemed out of line.

I'm still looking for a beta-reader. So if you're interested please tell me in a review.

Thanks a ton for the reviews everyone! I love getting them!

Binocular


	4. Girls Like Penelo

In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate

In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate

In the eyes of a sky pirate, at least an experienced one like Balthier, girls like Penelo are completely useless.

One, they always are getting in between two people, one who is attempting to romanc—seduce the other.

Two, these people always "ruin the mood". Making a moment go from completely seductive to a complete waste of time.

Three, leading men do not have rivals in love. And if they do have a rival then they are not cute little girls because there is no glory in beating a girl like that.

So, Balthier was amazed when he went from wanting to strangle Penelo to thanking everything he had ever believed in for her existence. He had stormed out of the desert with only one thing on his mind.

Ale.

And where does one get ale? A bar. The Sandsea to be perfectly exact about it. Balthier had no intention of "drinking away his problems" because he had no problem. It's not that Balthier really wanted to have Vaan all to himself for a whole day. It's not like Balthier felt anything but lust for the boy.

Nope, nothing. No matter how hard that heat stroke was trying to tell him differently.

By the time Balthier reached the bar he was still plotting ways to murder a certain female blonde. Hopefully the ale would calm him down like it usually did. He entered ignoring the looks both men and women shot to him as he took a seat at the top of the stairs.

A barmaid hopped up the stairs after him, obviously trying to get more than his order. Balthier skimmed her body with experienced eyes. Normally he wouldn't have hesitated to have some fun with this woman… but for some reason…

The dark attractive eyes of a woman who knew what sex was all about didn't appeal nearly as much as a naïve virgin boy's eyes.

Her wide hips, and rather large bust, would've normally been something Balthier craved. But now all he could think about was a lithe little thief's body, with a hard muscled chest.

Now what Balthier was doing should've been considered looking. But for some reason when a certain blonde and his certain friend walked in to look at the board, hoping for some new hunts, they took it as… "checking someone out".

Not good considering how Balthier only wanted to get one boy into his bed right now.

And this boy just happened to be running from the Sandsea like he had been shot. And his friend just happened to be glaring at Balthier like she was going to murder him.

Instead, the blonde girl decided to stomp her way up the stairs, and glared at the barmaid who was willing to give herself to Balthier (if only he could want her like he used to). The barmaid took this as a "get-the-fuck-out-of-my-way" look and decided to run while she still could.

"What were you thinking?" Penelo screamed with her eyes, yet said in a rough whisper.

Before Balthier could say anything in his defense (though he had no idea what he was trying to defend) Penelo cut him off.

"Here you are hitting on a barmaid that you don't even know, while he talks about nothing but you! Do you realize how much he likes you? Beca--" It was Penelo's turn to be cut off.

"He likes me? Who would he be?" Balthier asked. Though he used one of his suave "I-know-everything" voices, he was truly worried that Penelo would tell him Vaan changed his mind and was no longer attracted to the sky pirate.

For, at the very least, Vaan had to be attracted to Balthier.

Who wasn't attracted to Balthier?

But was all Balthier wanted Vaan liking him enough to sleep with him or…

Heat Stroke!

It was back because Balthier never had a chance to drink his ale. Yet another reason he could not stand this girl.

"Vaan you idiot! Who else would like you?" Obviously Penelo did not see all of the looks Balthier got everyday they traveled together.

"Well, Vaan likes everyone does he not?" Now Balthier knew he was fishing for information.

Penelo, thank the gods, didn't notice that at all. Instead, she just got angrier, raising her voice just a tad louder then it needed to be.

"Vaan doesn't just like you! He is pretty much in love with you!" Penelo's eyes grew wide and she stopped talking.

Balthier smiled a winning smile. Penelo had said something she wasn't supposed to say. Not only did she spill Vaan's secret, but she spilled his secret to Balthier. Balthier was mentally rejoicing. Now he knew Vaan was attracted to him.

Wait.

Did she say… love?

Balthier rose from the table. He needed to think. He needed to get out of the sun. He needed to drink some water to be rid of this heat stroke. He needed to avoid this girl. But most of all, he needed to avoid Vaan.

Love.

Love was far too strong a word for Balthier. Perhaps he had misheard Penelo and she had said lust? But why would that have been such a big secret? It wouldn't have. Balthier was not a fool he had perfect hearing. She said love. Not lust. Love.

Love.

What could Balthier ever have to do with love? The correct answer was nothing because love and sky pirates did not go together. Not one bit. Not at all.

Yet for some reason, Balthier thought maybe love was a better description for what he was feeling then lust.

Heat Stroke.

It was back.

Balthier quickly left Penelo speechless at the bar. He hadn't looked shocked on the outside (he was far too well trained for that), instead he probably looked like he was busy and had things to do. Which he was.

He needed water.

Luckily the bazaar was not far from the Sandsea. So he found his water there. And surprisingly, the water did not help his heat stroke at all. As a matter of fact, it stayed the same.

He still thought Vaan was very attractive.

He still wanted to seduce Vaan.

He still thought he should take things slow with Vaan.

He still felt like he wanted to be with Vaan until the day he died.

Perhaps it wasn't heat stroke? Perhaps Balthier had stronger feelings for the street urchin then he had thought. Perhaps Balthier was starting to… love the boy.

Balthier released a sigh. Love wasn't something Balthier was sure he could do. Lust he had mastered. Need was easy. Attraction was easily dealt with.

But love?

Something that is supposed to last a lifetime?

That was something Balthier had never truly grasped the meaning of. Not that he ever thought he needed to. But now… maybe this was his chance at love.

But did he want it?

The questions going through Balthier's mind assaulted him with ease. He wanted love of course, for who did not. But did he want it with a street urchin who was barely a man, if he was even a man yet? Obviously he did, but did the boy want Balthier as much as Balthier wanted him?

Love was complicated. Balthier wasn't one to like complicated overly much. Perhaps that's why he was attracted to the simple youth. Balthier liked things to be simple. Simple was what he needed.

He liked to know what he was doing every step of the way. Finding treasure, helping the princess.

Both of these had goals. Once he reached these goals he knew it. Unlike with love. How could one ever know if they had another's love completely or not?

So, if Balthier truly wanted Vaan completely, physically and emotionally, should he go for it? Balthier smiled at this thought. His mind made up.

A leading man always goes for what he wants. And if what he wants just happens to be a little street rat's heart… so be it.

Balthier decided it was time to look for the boy. Of course he wouldn't come out and say he loved him (for he wasn't sure of that yet), and he wouldn't say anything about the secret Penelo had spilled.

Instead, he would say something safe. Something that verified that, yes, he was indeed attracted to Vaan, and, no, he wasn't interested in that barmaid at all. The second part would be harder considering how rare it was for Balthier not to be interested in a lovely woman, but a leading man could make every situation work… including this one.

Now all he had to do was find Vaan. Which is easier said then done.

Rabanastre was not a big place. Or at least it didn't seem like one from maps. Yet here Balthier was… searching. He hadn't even covered all above ground much less go to Lowtown (which Balthier wanted to avoid doing at all costs). Now if Vaan stopped moving maybe Balthier would've stood a chance. But there was a huge chance that Vaan was still moving.

Meaning he was going to where Balthier just was. Or he was right behind Balthier. Or he went into the opposite shop as Balthier. All in all Balthier couldn't help being confused.

He couldn't ask the other street urchins because that would look bad. A leading man had no need of help. None whatsoever. Even if Vaan decided to just disappear so that Balthier couldn't' find him.

Okay… maybe a little help would've been nice…

And with that thought, the usually suave leading man, ran into someone. Someone who decided to pick Balthier's pockets. Balthier turned around looking for the urchin who he was distracted enough to run into when he saw gold.

Not his gold… but a head of gold.

The Vaan-sight was still working. Balthier quickly followed the head as it bobbed through the crowd, as though it knew it was being followed. As a matter of fact Balthier knew Vaan saw him. The boy had turned around and met his eyes at least twice now.

Twice.

And yet Vaan kept going. This was the second time in the same day Balthier was reduced to chasing Vaan. If they were in the desert again, Balthier would have considered "passing out" again. But he couldn't do that in this crowd.

Someone else would help him out and he'd lose sight of Vaan.

That's when Vaan disappeared. Not from Balthier's sight completely, but into Lowtown. Balthier had no choice but to follow. It was disgusting in this pit full of beggars and urchins. Luckily, his money was already gone or he'd be worried.

Vaan was in a near run at this point, and Balthier was nearly running to keep up with him.

Shockingly to Balthier, those in Lowtown ignored the two. Perhaps this was common to them?

Vaan eventually disappeared, but again not from Balthier's sights… he was in some abandoned site. An old house maybe? Very old Balthier hoped. It had been ages since Balthier had picked a lock.

Instead the door opened easily. Balthier walked inside hoping to finally confront the urchin boy, when the door slammed behind him. Vaan had locked the door the minute Balthier walked in the room.

They were both inside so it wasn't to make sure Balthier didn't follow him… perhaps it was to make sure Balthier didn't try to escape. Not that that was likely, considering how Balthier had chased Vaan down.

Vaan's face was red, yet not as red as before. He wasn't angry, or he didn't look angry. He wasn't embarrassed; at least he didn't look embarrassed…

Yet there he was, breathing heavily, holding the door. Vaan was a strong boy, so the chase shouldn't have made him tired…

Balthier looked at him smoothly, though his heart seemed to flutter. Heat stroke or love. Balthier hadn't decided which one it was yet.

Vaan looked as though he was trying to find a way to say something. Balthier wasn't sure if he wanted to allow the boy to talk… but somewhere within him a voice told him to allow the urchin to have the first word.

"Why did you kiss me?" The boy finally asked. His tone was not harsh, or kind. It just sounded as though he was making light conversation, perhaps asking about the weather.

And Balthier didn't like that one bit.

"Well isn't that obvious?" Balthier said, giving Vaan one of his most dashing smirks.

Vaan glared at Balthier. "No it really isn't. That's why I asked." There it was. The anger. The hate. The passion.

Balthier loved it when that passion was directed at him and him alone.

"Ah. Well in that case it is because I am attracted to you." Balthier said, keeping his tone smooth.

Though he felt like having a panic attack when he said it. It wasn't as though he was confessing his undying love for the street urchin. He was just admitting he was attracted to Vaan. Which should've been obvious to most people.

Instead of saying anything about Balthier being attracted to him, Vaan kept the questions coming, "Then what was up with that barmaid?"

Balthier actually rolled his eyes this time.

"Whatever do you mean?" Balthier was almost angry now. Don't ignore a man when he puts his hea-- self on the line by admitting being attracted to you.

"You were pretty much all over her and—" Balthier felt the need to interrupt.

"If by all over her you mean ordering a drink, and deciding that I wanted nothing to do with her then, yes, I was most assuredly all over her." Balthier lashed out at Vaan. His voice wasn't angry. Just… scathing.

Vaan looked up, surprise in his eyes. "Then you weren't… planning on sleeping with her?"

Balthier crossed his arms and gave Vaan a look. "I just told you I was attracted to you. So why in the world would I be trying to sleep with someone else?"

Vaan's eyes got even bigger. Maybe he had interpreted that as Balthier trying to sleep with him? Not that that wasn't what Balthier wanted… but he was trying to take it slow…

Suddenly a realization dawned on Balthier, Vaan was jealous… meaning Vaan was attracted to the sky pirate! Or maybe even more?

A smirk came to Balthier's face once more, "Don't tell me your were jealous."

Vaan's downcast eyes told the whole story. Of course Vaan was jealous when he saw the man he loved with a woman. Even if nothing was going on…

Balthier smiled as he decided to come up to Vaan. "Well then, I'm sorry for making you jealous. Allow me to make it up to you."

Vaan's eyes met Balthier's the moment before their lips were pressed together. The boy tasted sweeter then Balthier remembered. Balthier decided to put his hands on the lithe boy's hips, pushing him against the wall. Vaan in return decided to grab Balthier by the head and pull him closer if at all possible.

All in all, it seemed like Balthier was finally going to be able to seduce the street rat.

Just as Balthier was going to lick the boys lips and gain entry into Vaan's mouth, they heard a yell.

The princess was calling for Vaan. Calling for him like she would call a dog, good thing he wasn't about to leave Balthier.

But he was.

Vaan broke their kiss and unlocked the door quickly. Vaan turned and looked at Balthier for a moment.

Balthier decided he liked the bruised lips look on Vaan.

Vaan decided that he needed to go help the princess so off he went running.

Balthier decided that said princess needed to go get her own boy toy, because Vaan was his.

Balthier glared once more in the direction Vaan went running; the direction the princess' voice came from.

Ah. How Balthier hated princesses.

-End of Chapter 4-

Next Time: Princesses

Wow. Sorry for the long wait. I hope you're all still enjoying it. I'm attempting to keep the characters in character but I think I've nearly lost Balthier… but love does crazy things to us all doesn't it?

I finally have two amazing beta readers! They rock my world! So I would like to dedicate this chapter to TsumeLover666 and kawaii-yaoi-overdose.

I finally realized that I have not done a disclaimer for this story so…

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never will. TT

On a happier note… thank you for all the reviews! They're amazing and they help me make it through the day!

Binocular


	5. Princesses

_In The Eye's of A Sky Pirate_

In the eyes of a sky pirate, at least an experienced one like Balthier, princesses were completely useless.

One, they nearly never inherit a throne.

Two, they're spoiled and therefore are constantly trying to force other people to do their biddings.

Three, they steal what belongs to other people. In this case…Vaan.

So Balthier wasn't very surprised when he had this amazing urge to kill a certain princess. She stole the best meal he had had all day, just because she needed something. Women. Always putting what they want before what others need.

Hell, that's why he had never allowed a woman on his ship other than Fran, but Fran was different than most women. She could handle herself in a battle better than most men Balthier knew, she had this amazing ability to never talk unless it was deemed absolutely necessary, and she had never, never tried to get in between Balthier and something he wanted.

Like the other fools on his ship.

Fighting the urge to just find Ashe and steal Vaan back, Balthier decided to go on a stroll through Rabanastre; a stroll being code for 'searching for Fran'. It was about time he had someone with more healing knowledge than him check on his heat stroke. But once that was taken care of, Balthier would definitely be shooting Ashe in the forehead.

Fran was where sky pirates usually were, the bar. It was almost like she was waiting for him. She even had his favorite drink, known only to the two of them, waiting right in front of the seat across from her.

Balthier took the seat, giving her a seductive smile. Not that he was trying to seduce her, but a little bit of practice never hurt anyone. Fran just crossed her arms in reply. This didn't look like it was going to be an enjoyable conversation.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think you were planning to meet me here." Balthier said, a dry kind of sarcasm dripping off his words. Not the rude kind of sarcasm but the kind you only use on a friend… a friend who looks like she's about to let you have it.

Balthier took a drink from the cup placed before him; from the look in Fran's eyes, he did not think he wanted to be completely sober for this.

"You toy with the hume boy." Fran was never one to dance around the subject.

Balthier gave her a look like the sentence didn't make sense. Because it didn't. Toying? Balthier didn't toy with…most people.

"I don't know why you would think something like that." Balthier said, his tone cool and refined. He had nothing to worry about from this conversation.

"You are." Fran said, looking into his eyes like she could see something he didn't know about. "Think before you speak again."

Balthier hated it when she said that, because, whenever she did, he was about to make some horrible discovery. Now, usually when this happened, he and Fran would just fly away like nothing had ever happened. But he wouldn't be able to do that here…

He couldn't leave Vaan behind.

Or anyone else for that matter.

But really he could. It was his airship, he could do whatever he wanted with it. No one but Balthier had any say where the ship went. It wouldn't be terrible to abandon them. It wasn't like he promised to stay with them because he liked them. And Ashe had told everyone multiple times they could leave, whenever they wanted.

But for some reason it would seem like a betrayal to leave…

"Your mind wanders." Fran said, reading Balthier like an open book. That was the trouble of having a partner who has been with you so long.

Balthier started to think about what he was supposed to be thinking about. Toys. Humes. Vaan. Of course Balthier wasn't toying with Vaan. Balthier wanted Vaan. Vaan (apparently) wanted Balthier. There weren't any problems here.

But if Fran said she saw a problem…then there was probably a problem.

Suddenly Balthier felt everything clicking into place.

Penelo said Vaan loved him. Or was "pretty much" in love with him. Balthier had acknowledged that.

Vaan had pretty much admitted he did love Balthier. The jealousy, their little chat. Balthier had acknowledged that.

Balthier had also acknowledged that he...perhaps liked the boy more than he was willing to admit.

Then again, Balthier had acknowledged that that was nothing more than heat stroke.

Speaking of which, Balthier really needed to talk to Fran about this whole heat stroke thing, preferably right now.

"I think I have heat stroke." Balthier finally said.

If Fran had been awaiting an epiphany on Balthier's part, she was likely to be annoyed with Balthier right now. But… Balthier was willing to accept this.

Instead, Fran gave him one of her very rare---or he liked to think rare---looks. This look meaning "you-are-nothing-but-an-idiot", or at least that's how Balthier interpreted it.

"You do not have heat stroke." Fran told him, her no-nonsense voice not reassuring at all.

"I do."

"You are not."

"I was in the desert when it started…" Balthier started, sparing a glance in Fran's direction. She looked too irritated to answer. "I started feeling that maybe I could love someone…" Now she looked too interested to answer. "And then I started thinking maybe I love Vaan…" Fran was smiling. That couldn't be good.

"When do you show symptoms of heat stroke?" Fran asked him; at least now she thought he had heat stroke.

"Whenever I'm near Vaan. Or thinking about Vaan." Balthier answered, glad to have this little problem on the verge of being fixed.

"When is this?"

"All the time." Balthier said, realizing how bad of an answer that was.

Great, so now he thought about Vaan all of the time, why would anyone even want to think about the street urchin that much. It's one thing when Balthier was planning on seducing him, but it was another to just think about how good Vaan looks. Or how delicious his lips are…

Balthier stopped that train of thought instantly. Heat stroke back again? This was getting ridiculous. Fran better come up with a cure soon or else Balthier was going to go insane.

"You do not have heat stroke." Fran said, a small smile coming to her face. "You are in love."

Balthier was stunned into silence. Rather shocking for a leading man… but silent he was. Fran had just tried to tell him that he was in love, something a sky pirate never was. At least not in love with a person.

They loved freedom. They loved the sky. They loved the treasure.

Could Balthier even love another person?

It was his mind (and Fran) that helped supply that answer. Yes, he could love a person. If that person was a street urchin named Vaan.

So…

Balthier loved Vaan.

Vaan loved Balthier.

Everything should be perfect now. But of course it wasn't. This wasn't one of those disgusting novels Penelo had been cooing over earlier. Balthier had barely reached the point of accepting his love for a street rat, why on earth would anyone think Balthier was going to go running into the streets, confessing his love.

Other than the fact that no leading man would ever do such a thing. Scream from the rooftops on a night when the moon glows just right, yes. Running? Through streets? Not so much.

Of course Balthier wasn't planning on doing that, anytime soon anyway, but he was planning on something. This was far too big for Balthier to contain, so, obviously, he had to find the object of his affections and…

Well for a one night stand it would have been some form of seduction. Flowers. Dinner. Bed. Not necessarily in that order. Could the same plan apply to love? But could it really be love if he was following the rules of one night stands?

Balthier chuckled, a sad attempt at laughing it off. He was a leading man and it was time to do something!

And so Balthier did what any self-respecting leading man would have done. He finished his drink, gave bedroom eyes to a few of the patrons within the bar, and winked at Fran while ignoring a small grin that was rarely seen in public.

Then and only then did Balthier stand.

A leading man got whatever he wanted. If what the leading man wanted just so happened to be a young street urchin's heart…then that's what he got. Even if he had to go steal from a princess to make it happen.

With a suave walk and a seductive wink to all he passed, Balthier exited the bar. He was a man on a mission! It took only a few purposeful steps for Balthier to realize the simplest of facts.

He had no idea where Vaan and Ashe were… so how was he supposed to decide where to go?

Instead of thinking too deeply, Balthier just decided to follow his feet. The leading man always found what he was looking for, even if it was just some sort of off chance meeting.

Walking was never one of Balthier's favorite activities. It didn't compare to flying in anyway. Flying was where you had the freedom to move, do what you wanted. Here you had to avoid not only the pick pockets but the groping hands. Not that many were trying to grope Balthier.

They were busy raping him with their eyes.

Balthier let a small smirk take hold of his lips. Oh yes. He enjoyed being lusted after. All it meant was he was one of the more (as in most) attractive men around. And Fran thought the gold on his vest would look horrible. Goes to show you can't trust a woman to dress a man.

Quickly finding him surrounded by merchants, Balthier's happy attitude disappeared. He had never truly liked shops. Always people screaming for others to come to their shops, other people sobbing in the stores because they didn't have enough money for another piece of junk they didn't need.

Thank goodness for Moogles or else the Strahl would never have enough supplies.

That was when Balthier's Vaan-Vision decided to kick in. A blonde, lithe body was moving through the crowd, either obviously drunk or following someone. The smirk returned along with Balthier's good mood.

Deciding to follow for a bit, not stalk, Balthier watched Ashe and Vaan. Ashe was buying, and Vaan was… carrying. A lot. No wonder Vaan walked was though drunk. He could barely see, carrying things ranging from a normal potion to a Ninja Sword. That couldn't be safe.

What if Vaan accidently chopped his own head off before Balthier could make his move. Ah. But that wouldn't happen. Leading Men were always the chivalrous type. Silently stalking up to Vaan, Balthier took half of the packages with ease, making sure all of the pointy objects were with him and not Vaan.

"Allow me the honor of assisting you." How is that for sweeping someone off their feet?

"Can't you just talk like a normal person?" Vaan grumbled, attempting to hide his red face behind packages he could easily see over now.

Balthier would've thought the situation cute if he hadn't been, well quite frankly, pissed. What was wrong with talking like a gentleman? So what if Balthier preferred words that would roll off his tongue like honey?

How dare his soon-to-be-lover Vaan insult one of Balthier's favorite traits.

So Balthier did what any leading man would do. He opted for the silent treatment.

"Well if that's the way you feel, I will refrain from talking with you at all."

So let the silence begin… and drag on.

Vaan was ignoring Balthier. Just like that. Didn't Balthier just announce the silent treatment? Didn't that mean Vaan started begging for forgiveness?

Not in this case.

Obviously that just meant Balthier would have to start playing hard ball.

Ashe had returned only a moment ago, piling more packages onto Vaan, giving one of her curt little nods of acknowledgements to Balthier. There had to be something different about her… there had to be.

Balthier had an eye for perfection, so it didn't take long for him to break the silence.

"Why Princess," both Vaan and Ashe turned to look at him, shocked at the breaking of the silence, "I believe you have cut your hair, and might I be the first to say you look lovely." Easily sweeping the boxes to one side of his body Balthier was able to kiss Ashe's hand on a bended knee before he even finished the sentence.

Ashe turned red, stuttering enough to let Balthier know he was right, leaving her hand in his.

Vaan's presence grew darker. Balthier was unable to see his favorite street urchin but he felt the negative vibes radiating off of Vaan. It was almost as good as the look Balthier imagined locked onto Vaan's face.

Balthier was unsure of what he expected Vaan to do, after all he was no leading lady, but what Vaan did was most certainly not expected. Disobeying his lovely princess was never something Vaan did. Never.

So this situation was a shock.

Packages dropped to the ground, as Vaan stomped over to where Balthier continued kneeling. A twitch appeared on Ashe's face when the distinct sound of breaking glass could be heard. Oh there went their potions and all the gil they had spent so much time earning to buy them.

Obviously about to pull her mighty princess act, Ashe withdrew her hand from Balthier, turning to speak to Vaan. But Vaan wasn't really in the mood to talk. Grabbing the hand that had just been released, Vaan tugged Balthier up to his feet, and started dragging him through town, making sure every single thing Balthier was carrying dropped.

Quickly losing Ashe within the millions of people that seemed to seep out of the ground, Vaan continued dragging Balthier. Not only was this undignified but also it was the anti-leading man role.

Not a role Balthier was ever interested in.

Taking control of the situation, Balthier ripped his hand from Vaan's and stopped walking, causing the younger male to do so. Brushing nonexistent specks of dust off his pants, Balthier eyed Vaan. Who just happened to be glaring at Balthier, arms crossed in an extremely defiant way.

Perhaps this wasn't the time for love confessions?

"Now whatever was that about?" Balthier asked, breaking his vow of silence.

"You know what it was about!" Hate seethed throughout Vaan's reply; that was never a good sign.

"Of course I don't. You were completely irrational back there. Not only destroying hundreds of gil worth in potions, not only dragging me throughout town while abandoning Ashe," At this point Balthier was rudely interrupted.

"Why do you care so much about Ashe? You said you were attracted to me! Not, not her!" Vaan pointing from the direction they came from (or Balthier assumed it was the direction they came from, Rabanastre was truly a maze), obviously jealous.

Ah. Jealous. The reaction Balthier wanted.

"Ah well. I never said I was attracted to Ashe. She is far too much of a princess for me. Where are you inferring this caring about Ashe from? I was only complimenting her hair just as I do with any woman whose existence I acknowledge."

"Yeah… but… Well you stopped talking to me! That was rude!"

A soft chuckle escaped from Balthier, "Of course I stopped talking. Aren't you the one you said you didn't like the way I spoke?"

"Well… that wasn't… I just don't like it when you make fun of me…" Vaan grumblingly admitted. "Other than that I kinda like… the way you talk…."

If this wasn't screaming time for a confession Balthier didn't know what was.

Perhaps princesses weren't as bad as Balthier thought?

It would of course be at that moment Bashe came running up.

"Time for practice." Bashe said, quickly grabbing Vaan and disappearing.

Balthier glared in the direction the two moved. A perfect opportunity stolen as usual.

Ah. How Balthier hated Bashe.

-End of Chapter 5-

Next Time: Bashe

Wow. Wow. Wow. That took me… forever. I swear I'm not going to disappear anymore! I'll be updating every two weeks! Starting now!

Hopefully the characters stayed true to themselves. Even love struck Balthier. Just let me know if you think this is terribly bad…. Or if you think it's any kind of good. =D

I would like to thank my oh so lovely Beta Reader TsumeLover666 who has agreed to continue Beta reading even after I dropped off the face of the planet!

I will be back in TWO WEEKS!!!

Binocular


	6. Soldiers

_In The Eye's of a Sky Pirate_

In the eye's of a sky pirate, at least an experienced one like Balthier, soldiers were completely useless.

One: they can never think for themselves.

Two: they are probably the dirtiest people around.

Three: they think that since they could die at anytime they're able to just steal away exactly what someone else was about to claim.

And a point was proven as Bashe took Vaan right in the middle of a possible chance for a love confession. So it came as no surprise to Balthier when he wondered if there was any chance of snapping Bashe's neck with his bare hands.

Attempting to follow Bashe and Vaan would be nearly impossible. Balthier could barely get from the bar to the Strahl. And that usually had nothing to do with being drunk. Walking through the streets hoping by some miracle he could find them, Balthier was doing something completely unlike a leading man.

He was ignoring the lust-filled stares. It was like they didn't even matter anymore. All he could think about was the faults with the people looking at him. Unless they looked and acted like Vaan there was no way Balthier was interested.

Which was especially weird.

Normally Balthier could enjoy casual sex with the best of them. But now… now he was stuck with this need to be with someone, someone who always seemed to be running away from him.

Balthier knew that wasn't the truth but it couldn't help but look like the truth. Balthier shook it off. That was no way for a leading man to think. Of course Vaan wanted him. Everyone wanted the legendary sky pirate Balthier. Sending a suave smile to a group of ladies helped confirmed that. Two gasped, three giggled, and one passed out.

Oh yes. Balthier was good.

Damn good.

Balthier's walk had led him to the desert. Nasty place in Balthier's opinion. There was only one place one should always be sweating. And that was not the desert. On the other hand… Balthier had found Vaan and Bashe.

They didn't look like they were practicing at all!

Vaan was extremely flushed and Bashe looked like he was talking on and on about something. Balthier glared at the swordsman. Bashe was hitting on Vaan. Bashe was hitting on Balthier's Vaan. Now that just couldn't be allowed.

Sneaking closer, Balthier could finally hear what was going on.

"…now I know you think you're in love, but do not rush things. If you're not comfortable, don't do it. Balthier is a man with plenty of experience and is probably very good at seduction. Just try to remember that when you say no he has to stop. Be sure to make sure it won't hurt you…" Bashe was talking as though he was telling Vaan the proper use of a sword… and in a way he was.

Balthier almost laughed at the way Bashe gave "The Talk". No wonder Vaan looked uncomfortable. No one was comfortable when they got the talk. It would be even worse from Bashe. That man didn't have a very… gentle way to say things.

"…oh and it may hurt in the beginning, but it shouldn't hurt too badly after that. But if it does, Balthier isn't as good as we all thought…"

Balthier wasn't sure which was funnier. The fact that Bashe was talking about having sex with a man as if he had done it before, or if he was insinuating Balthier hadn't had as much experience. Which he had.

Balthier was one of the best.

Just ask half of Rabanastre.

Perhaps this would be a good time to save the street rat? Balthier questioned if he should or not. It was a good idea giving Vaan "The Talk" before anything happened. Balthier sure as hell wasn't going to do it. End of story.

Maybe Bashe was good for something after all…

Smoothly Balthier decided enough was enough. There was only so much Vaan could take before he swore off sex for life. And that was not something Balthier was going to allow.

Balthier smoothly walked in, a seductive smile on his face, when Vaan saw him, turning the poor boy even redder. Bashe stopped the talk and looked at Balthier, trying to decide if he liked the idea of the sky pirate and Vaan together. After a small silence, Bashe nodded and walked away, leaving Vaan and Balthier alone.

Balthier looked Vaan in the eyes and saw how terrified he was. Maybe he should have stepped in sooner?

Vaan looked at the desert sands, anything to avoid Balthier's eyes it seemed. Balthier quietly analyzed what he should do. This was a horrible place for a love confession, so that wasn't going to happen.

This was a horrible place to have sex, (sand got everywhere and it was so damn hard to get rid of) so that wasn't going to happen.

That left Balthier with only one thought… What was going to happen?

Balthier wondered if there was anything he should say or do… Or something… and by the time his thoughts released him, Vaan was already walking back toward Rabanastre. Without saying a word before he started walking.

Now if that wasn't rude Balthier wasn't sure what was.

Balthier followed at a slow pace. He wasn't going to go running after Vaan. Leading men didn't run after people. That was the leading ladies. Vaan was still studying the ground as he walked into the town.

Wishing he knew what was wrong, Balthier followed, assuming that was what Vaan wanted. Vaan was leading Balthier down to Low Town. Balthier absolutely hated this place. It stank, it was disgusting. It was a place Balthier couldn't imagine anyone purposely going to.

But here Vaan was purposely walking through it. And here Balthier was purposely following Vaan through this disgusting place known as Low Town.

Balthier remembered the last time they had been here. There was an empty room where Balthier and Vaan had… done some things. Nothing too horrible of course. They were interrupted long before that happened.

Going back… why were they going back? Maybe Vaan wasn't as scared as Balthier thought? But Balthier didn't have time to be hopeful. Just in case what he wanted to happen… didn't. If you don't hope you can't be disappointed after all.

Once they were both inside the shack that was barely even a shack, Balthier waited for Vaan to say something. He was leading this situation, even though Balthier was still the leading man. Allowing Vaan to lead one scene wouldn't take away the fact that Balthier was… is the leading man!

Vaan finally looked up at Balthier, an unreadable look in his eyes. Letting out a soft sigh, Vaan opened his mouth and closed it. He wanted to talk but couldn't. Balthier sat on the disgusting bed that was in the room, hopefully there were no flees on it, because he had the feeling they would be there a while.

Vaan looked at Balthier again and then closed his eyes. Finally manning up, Vaan said what he needed to say.

"I'm not scared you know?" Vaan said with his eyes still closed. Balthier looked rather amused.

"Scared? I do not know how you cannot be scared of the princess. If there was ever a she-devil…" Balthier attempted to lighten the mood, but that happened to be a poor idea.

Vaan let out an extremely frustrated sigh. "That is not what I meant and you know it!" He growled angrily.

Balthier tried not to be too attracted to that look… but some things are extremely… attractive. "Then what did you mean?"

"I just mean well…I'm not afraid to… well you know…" Vaan looked imploringly at Balthier, begging him to finish the sentence.

"If I knew, we probably would not be having this conversation." Balthier said, his tone showing he knew exactly what Vaan was trying to say.

"I'm not afraid to have sex with you!" Vaan yelled. "I mean… I know you probably aren't even interested in that… but just… I don't know in case." Vaan was rambling at this point. "And I mean… if you did want to… I would… you know," painful pause as Vaan examined his nails. "Definitely want to do it, but what if… what if I'm not good enough?"

Balthier stared at Vaan who refused to look at him. If that wasn't an invitation Balthier wasn't sure what was. Love confessions were overrated anyway. Showing someone was much better.

Balthier popped Vaan's space bubble with quick steps and took Vaan's face with both of his hands. Balthier chastely kissed Vaan and pulled away. "Nothing about you is not good enough for me." Another chaste kiss. "You're perfect."

Balthier pulled away with every intention of stopping; he wasn't sure rushing Vaan was a good idea.

But Vaan had ideas of his own.

Intertwining his hand with Balthier's hair, Vaan pulled the leading man closer, deepening the kiss. Balthier smiled against Vaan's lips, placing his hands on the street rats hips, surprisingly feminine in shape, and pushed the boy back against the most likely flee-bitten bed.

Holding himself over Vaan, Balthier pulled away for a moment to look at the boy he had every intention of ravishing. Vaan blushed, looking left and right, trying to avoid Balthier's eyes. If there was ever someone prettier then Vaan at this moment, Balthier asked the gods to strike him down.

Firmly pressing his lips against Vaan's, Balthier began nibbling on the boys bottom lip. Asking—begging for permission to enter the cavern that was Vaan's mouth. As if Vaan could deny anything Balthier wanted at this point.

Vaan moaned into the kisses and Balthier shoved his tongue into the boy's mouth. A battle of the tongues ensued. Neither wanting to separate for air and both needing to. Vaan was the first to pull away harshly breathing, trying to bring more oxygen into his lungs.

Balthier allowed him his chance to breathe again, instead deciding to kiss and nibble on the neck that supported Vaan's head. Vaan moaned, leaning his head this way and that way to give Balthier the access he needed.

Balthier, not stopping his attacks on Vaan's chest, lifted the boy and threw his vest off to the side. Clothing was no longer acceptable at this point. Vaan wanted to do the same. Unfortunately, Balthier tended to wear a bit more clothing than Vaan.

"How the hell… do these… come off…" Vaan whined, trying to get Balthier to stop long enough to start taking his clothes off.

Balthier smiled against the boy's neck and straddling the younger boy; he unfastened each small piece of metal. Slowly and surely. His lust-filled eyes meeting Vaan's. Eventually his vest was nearly off and Vaan, though enjoying the show, wanted more skin on skin contact.

Throwing the vest to the side, Vaan hastily pulled the white undershirt off as well, ripping a majority of the buttons as he went. A fact both just ignored at this point. Slipping their shoes off, the two kissed again, attempting to devour each other through their kisses.

Balthier quickly unfastened the irritating leg armor that none but the street urchin even liked, Vaan ignored this as he untied his own sash belt. Anything to make it faster, anything until they could finally touch only each other. Balthier pulled away as Vaan finally lied naked before him.

If he died now he would be a nearly-happy man. Vaan blushed as Balthier stared, but continued meeting Balthier's eyes. Vaan whimpered as Balthier stroked his length.

"Not fair." Vaan moaned. "You have too much on still…"

Balthier nearly agreed as he unfastened his belt, but agreeing would've taken concentration that would be better spent on quickly stripping. Vaan helped yank Balthier's pants off, luckily not destroying those as he did the shirt.

Vaan gazed at Balthier, admiring the leading man's well-toned body for only a moment before Balthier decided it was time to make Vaan's world shake. Trailing kisses along Vaan's chest and going lower and lower was exciting. Not just for Balthier, but also for Vaan.

Vaan loved watching Balthier. Every move he made was just… perfect. That was while Vaan could see anyway. The minute Balthier took Vaan into his mouth, the poor boy could only see stars. Moaning and shaking, Vaan couldn't last long; he was a virgin after all.

Not for much longer though, Balthier smiled to himself, humming all along Vaan's length. If only Balthier had realized how much he liked Vaan before, they could be doing this sooner.

Balthier pulled away just before Vaan could finally find out what sex was all about. He wanted to be inside Vaan when that happened. Vaan groaned when the cool air hit his length. Where did the warm mouth go he wondered.

Balthier's lust-ridden eyes stared at Vaan, "I want to be inside you, Vaan. Can you handle that?"

Vaan nodded. "As long as you hurry." He moaned.

It wasn't very nice to just stop doing things to people. Not nice at all.

Balthier smiled as he flipped Vaan over. "This is going to hurt a little." Balthier whispered into the smaller boy's ear.

Slowly, Balthier prepared Vaan. Trying to make sure everything was ready, trying to make sure Vaan wouldn't hate him when it was over. Balthier inserted one finger and waited until Vaan started moaning.

Then he inserted another finger and started scissoring the younger male. It hurt. Oh gods it hurt Vaan at first. But slowly it got better.

"I think I'm ready." Vaan whimpered.

Balthier nodded against Vaan's back and slowly pushed his way into Vaan. Vaan sharply breathed in, it hurt. Bad.

"Don't worry. It'll go away soon." Balthier whispered, grabbing Vaan's length, slowly stroking.

"It's okay. I think you can move now." Vaan said, not entirely sure what he was supposed to be feeling.

Without replying, Balthier started thrusting harder and harder. Until finally he hit that spot that made Vaan see colors. "Balthier!" He screamed, his voice harsh, his breathing heavy.

Quickly stroking Vaan while he thrust into him, trying to make sure they both enjoyed everything, trying to make sure they both hit their release at the same time.

"Yes. Gods, Vaan." Balthier moaned into his ear. "You feel so good."

Vaan could only gasp. Not believing how he was feeling. And then they hit it. Their release. Coming at the same time, they screamed the other's name. Barely comprehending what had happened.

Balthier pulled himself out of Vaan and wrapped his arms around the smaller male.

Vaan relaxed on Balthier's shoulder, slowly falling into a deep slumber. Balthier followed him in doing so, pressing a light kiss to Vaan's temple before he followed into dream world.

**The Next Morning**

Balthier jolted awake, first thing realizing he was alone. Now that was odd. Where was Vaan?

Gone.

Along with his clothes.

Gone.

If Balthier wasn't positive they had been together last night, he would've considered it all a dream.

Ah. How Balthier hated the morning after.

End of Chapter 6

Next Time: The Morning After.

Okay so my computer died, ate all my files. And I have only just recently got it back. That's why this is so late. Also!!! I wanted to post it last friday but and me had a couple problems. But it's fixed!!! :D

I do plan on updating every two weeks from now on though. =]

I can barely believe I even just wrote that (as in that hopefully good lemon). Hope you guys liked it!!! Thank you so much for reading.Reviews would be wonderful.

I'll see you all in one week! The end is drawing near...

OH!!! And thanks goes out to TsumeLover666 who yet again waited thirty eight years for a chapter to edit!

Binocular


	7. The Morning After

_In The Eye's of a Sky Pirate_

In the eyes of a sky pirate, at least an experienced one like Balthier, the morning after sex was completely useless.

One: whoever you happened to sleep with was still there the next morning.

Two: they always wanted far more than you were willing to give.

Three: the leading man is always forced to dash away because he has to "go to the bathroom". Not a dashing exit at all.

So it didn't come as a shock to Balthier at all when he hated this morning after as well, except it was for a completely different reason this time. It probably would've been a good morning after if Vaan was still there, wanting all Balthier ever had to give, and Balthier could dash away with the street urchin. A perfect exit.

Instead, Balthier was alone with no one wanting anything from him and his exit was nothing except that. An exit.

Though it was the morning after that Balthier had always wanted… it wasn't. Had it been anyone else, Balthier would've been ecstatic. But it had been Vaan. Probably the only person Balthier wanted to still be there in the morning.

Something terrible had probably happened, forcing Vaan to run off, wishing he could be with Balthier. Of course, that's what had to have happened. Who in the world would refuse the wonderful king of the skies himself?

No one.

Especially not Vaan.

Balthier decided he should make sure Vaan didn't need help with his atrociously big problem that forced him out of Balthier's arms. Dressing rather quickly, irritated only slightly at his ripped undershirt, Balthier left the disgusting place known as Low Town.

Stepping lightly through the streets, Balthier wandered aimlessly. Eventually he would find Vaan just as he had been doing the entire visit to Rabanastre. Deciding to make his way to the Sand Sea, Balthier knew he would find either his young lover, or his partner. Either would be good considering Balthier had some things to discuss with Fran and he didn't want to go running off to help Vaan with his big problem. Better to let the boy suffer a bit more.

Luck was with Balthier as he walked into the dim bar. Fran was in her usual place, second story of the Sand Sea. Suspiciously enough, Fran had two drinks before her. One being her usual, the other being Balthier's usual. Seems as though she was waiting for him yet again.

She watched him as he sat down, a very judgmental look in her eyes. Never a good thing. Luckily, Balthier was always able to pass these judgments… for the most part anyway.

"So you and the hume boy have joined." Not a question. "You two admitted love and mated, yes?"

Now, Fran might be a tad more judgmental than Balthier was used to.

"Not exactly." Balthier admitted with a swallow of his alcohol. Why was it every conversation he had with Fran required him to be anything but sober?

Fran's eyes narrowed, her arms crossed over her chest. The judgmental look became harsher and then became one of non-belief. Balthier attempted to ignore Fran in every way possible. What could she do? Other than kill him of course.

"What does this mean?"

Balthier took another swallow as he prepared himself to explain. This had no chance of being fun. At all, whatsoever.

"I had every single intention of proclaiming my love for him, but one thing led to another and… we may have missed that part." Balthier admitted with an intentional pause in his explanation.

Fran stared at him openly. Not the first time he had seen this look, but the last time had been when he bought the wrong oil for the Strahl.

"You do realize this means he probably thinks you care for him not." Again, not a question. "This is probably why he left you alone this morning."

Balthier looked at her in surprise. "And how in the world do you know that's what happened?"

"If Vaan had been there when you awoke, I doubt either of you would have left bed the rest of the day."

Probably true. Speaking of Vaan and a bed, Balthier had his mission of finding Vaan to continue. And now it was even more urgent. What if the blonde had thought Balthier was only using him for sex. Balthier had never admitted love, only attraction. Lust at best.

That was probably not a good thing.

Nodding his goodbye to Fran, Balthier left the Sand Sea and went on his merry way, except it wasn't exactly merry and Balthier wasn't exactly sure which way he should be going…

A genius thought came to Balthier that moment. Vaan was probably training with Bashe like he always seemed to be doing. Spending more time with that royal puppet instead of the master of skies, what a bad choice! Attempting to use landmarks and moogles, Balthier eventually found his way to the desert that was used as a training arena for the former soldier and the young street rat.

Balthier looked admirably at the younger boy as he practiced his swordsmanship with Bashe. Though Balthier would never admit it, Vaan had gotten good. He didn't hesitate near as much, it wasn't blind swinging anymore, and he could actually handle most types of swords.

Perhaps Bashe was worthwhile after all? Probably not, considering the eyes he kept making at Vaan. Walking down with cool strides, Balthier approached the two who kept working. Vaan kept attacking, Bashe kept teaching. All in all, it was rather boring.

Vaan looked at Balthier only once and then ignored him completely, which was rude. You don't sleep with someone and then ignore them. Unless you were a sky pirate… and they didn't actually matter to you at all, like Balthier with most of the women and men he had been with. But it was different for him and Vaan.

Or at least Balthier thought it was.

Vaan had done everything but say out loud that he loved Balthier. That love couldn't fade just because they slept together, especially because that was the best sex of Balthier's life. No doubt it was the same for Vaan.

Hopefully.

Balthier was irritating himself at this point. Second guessing was ridiculous. Of course, Vaan still wanted not only to sleep with Balthier, but to be with Balthier. Who wouldn't want something like that? Balthier was the complete package.

"What are you doing here anyway, Balthier?" Vaan questioned the leading man, a smirk on his lips. "I thought fighting with a sword was pointless."

Balthier smiled. This was what he was used to. Light flirting. Amazing sex later. This was perfect.

"Oh, it is anything but pointless. Have you seen how sharp those swords are?" Balthier questioned as he looked at his fingernails.

Vaan didn't even chuckle. Bashe on the other hand was laughing lightly in the background. Vaan instead glared.

"Seriously, if you're not interested in learning how to use a sword, you might as well leave." Vaan said, his voice sheathed with malice.

"Now now Vaan, you don't really want that." Balthier said with his seductive smile.

"But really I do." Vaan said with a sneer as he turned away. Back to working with Bashe.

Bashe looked between Vaan and Balthier, confusion easily read on his face. Something bad had happened, something even Balthier didn't understand.

"Ha." Balthier scoffed. This officially wasn't okay anymore. Obviously the signs and their friends had all been wrong. Vaan didn't want Balthier anymore than he wanted the pox. Balthier reacted in the only way he knew how.

Revenge.

"You do know that men only use swords when they have need to compensate for something else." If Balthier had longer hair, he would've flicked it back by now; that's how catty he was feeling. "And a real man would learn how to use a sword by himself. You're nothing more than a little boy."

This time Balthier looked straight into Vaan's eyes. Watching the street urchin with disgusted eyes, Balthier looked up into the sky.

"Ah. It's about time I go. I promised a certain waitress I'd make her day." Balthier smiled a very suggestive smile and walked away.

Not exactly true. None of it really was, but that wasn't the goal. The goal was to make Vaan angry, furious even. Nobody got to throw Balthier away like a rag doll. Even if Balthier had to lie, he would make sure the other suffered far more than he did.

Taking up a leisurely pace, Balthier tried to ignore the ache in his chest, the ache that was definitely not coming from a broken heart. No way in hell.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed his shoulder---how in the world had anyone even gotten that close without him noticing?—and forcefully turned Balthier around. Bashe was glaring angrily at Balthier. This was probably a bad situation. No matter how much better Balthier knew he was, Bashe was probably about ten times stronger. And if Bashe decided to punch Balthier in the face… most of the female population (and a good portion of the male population) would die a little inside.

"This is foolishness." Bashe said, irritated in a way Balthier had never seen the soldier, "You two will talk out this pathetic mockery of a relationship."

Ha.

Bashe was jealous. Balthier knew it. Trying to steal his street… well, not so much his anymore. Vaan had made it pretty damn clear he didn't want anything to do with the leading man.

Bashe practically hauled Balthier back to the training zone where Vaan was standing, stuck in a dead run in the other direction. Balthier had no idea when or how the soldier had ever learned the spell Stop, but it looked like he was damn good at it.

"You two will talk. You two will work this out. It's your choice whether I'm here or whether you are able to have this conversation yourselves like adults."

It was obvious Vaan was trying to tell Bashe to stay. At least it was obvious to Balthier. Balthier smiled at his—the street boy. With a dismissing wave in Bashe's direction, Balthier looked at Vaan.

"I think we can handle it." Vaan looked terrified at Baltheir's words.

Bashe didn't notice and took his exit, wondering if the other two males of the group would be able to work anything out at all or if they would both end up being fools. It didn't truly matter that much to Bashe either way but of course.

The Stop spell had finally released Vaan, but Vaan knew better than to run away again. Bashe would probably chase him down or worse, Balthier would chase him down. That never sounded as fun as it should.

Balthier looked over the boy he had wanted to see all day. Oddly enough, the malice that Balthier had seen in Vaan's eyes was gone now. Now it was more of a defeated look. And were his eyes red? Had he been crying? Balthier took a swear then and there that if Bashe had made Vaan cry he would pay for it.

There was a moment of silence, probably as awkward as they could come, but Balthier couldn't break the silence. He, believe it or not, wasn't sure what to say. The leading man was just as lost as the sidekick in this case.

Vaan finally broke the silence, "Why do we even have to talk?"

"Why indeed." Balthier answered the question with an elusive answer.

Vaan glared a little at that. "I mean really, you've already been clear that you aren't interested in me…"

"I've been clear? No, you've been quite clear in your disinterest in me." Balthier interrupted. "May I remind you, you were rather rude to me first thing and you abandoned me this morning."

Vaan shrugged, obviously irritated. "Well… Bashe said…"

"And why do you listen to Bashe? He is obviously interested in you!" Balthier interrupted yet again.

The manners he was so used to using disappeared when he was talking to Vaan. Perhaps the street rat was rubbing off on him?

Vaan looked at Balthier, officially surprised. "Are you jealous of Bashe?"

Balthier looked at Vaan. "I believe we were talking about our "relationship", not about Bashe." Obviously not a subject Balthier wanted to discuss.

"I don't see why we have to! There isn't a relationship!" Vaan finally yelled. "I mean, no matter how much I love you, all you see me as is someone you are attracted to and can have sex with whenever, just like that stupid waitress!"

Balthier stared at Vaan, attempting to comprehend what the boy was saying. "What did you say?"

Vaan looked at him oddly. "That you were going to have sex with some waitress?"

Balthier rolled his eyes, "Before that."

"There isn't a relationship?"

"After that."

"I'm only your sex toy?"

"Before that."

Vaan turned bright red. "That I… well… love you."

Balthier smiled; this was his moment. This was when Vaan would finally be his!

"But I mean, why would you ever love me? You told me you were only attracted to me and that you have a waitress you were about to go sleep with. And I mean there's no way I'm good enough for someone like you and…" Vaan trailed off, tears returning to his eyes.

"First of all," Balthier began with a smile. "I made that waitress up because you were ignoring me."

"But! I wasn't ignoring you. But Bashe said since we had sex before we admitted our love it was just a one night stand and—"

"Second of all, never listen to Bashe. Sometimes people go out of order."

"Yeah, but. I mean. You said you were only attracted to me!" Vaan yelled, pointing at Balthier. Could his face be any redder?

Probably not.

"I didn't know how much I liked you at that point." Balthier was becoming his suave self. Of course Vaan wanted him.

"But… how could you even like me?"

Balthier chuckled. "I just do. I love you."

With that, Balthier swept Vaan into his arms, passionately kissing the younger male.

There it was, the love confession Balthier had been wanting. And it was his, just like Vaan was now his. The perfect ending for a leading man.

Smiling, the two went back to Rabanastre. Together.

In the end, there were plenty of things Balthier, an experienced sky pirate, thought he hated. But in the end, there was only one thing he knew he loved.

Vaan.

End of Story

Wow. I've been envisioning the last little bit forever. I'm glad I finally got to use it. Well, it's been fun! I've really enjoyed writing this story and I hope you all have enjoyed reading it!

Thank you for all the excellent reviews! I hope to hear from you all again sometime soon!!

LAST CHANCE TO REVIEW EVERYBODY!

Thank you for sticking it out with me!

'Til next time,

Binocular


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